There's nothing like a gathering of the fisherman's clan or a good boat show to help get through the winter doldrums.
Out in northern California snow has not been the problem it's been here in Maine. In fact they could use snow, lots of it, to relieve a freshwater drought. But that's not why fishermen will be coming to the Longshoremen's Hall in Oakland, Calif., this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It's a chance to meet, greet and maybe get a deal on that fishing gear you've been putting off buying. It's the annual Swap Meet put on by the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association. Billed as the "biggest event of its kind on the West Coast," the Swap Meet offers fishermen a chance to buy new gear at discounted prices and trade in used gear.
California fishermen will gather at the Longshoremen's Hall in Oakland this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the annual Swap Meet put on by the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association. Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association photo When you aren't bargaining for fishing gear, the Coast Guard will be there to test your EPIRB, and you can have other safety equipment checked and certified as well.
If you have fisheries questions, you'll probably get some of them answered by representatives from the Institute for Fisheries, the California Department of Fish & Game and the California Salmon Council. There will also be a seminar on black box electronics, another on refrigeration and Pro-Troll reportedly has some deals for commercial trollers.
In the past upwards of 500 fishermen have attended the Swap Meet, the association says. No doubt many of them will take advantage of a barbecue the association will hold there.
Across the country, the gathering that took place in Portland, Maine, this past weekend was to get people thinking about spring and ignore the record setting snowfalls and plenty of really cold weather.
Unfortunately, part of the weekend it was blowing like stink, pushing the wind-chill factor below zero, but fortunately there was an escape — if only for a few hours. It was the Maine Boatbuilders Show.
Held each year along the Portland waterfront in several big, ancient looking wooden buildings owned by Portland Yacht Services, the show is packed with boats on the bottom levels, and vendors and food up above.
Richard Pulsifer from Brunswick, Maine, was there with one of his partially completed Pulsifer Hampton Boats. It's a 22-foot wooden boat based on a design of the Casco Bay Hampton, a Maine lobster boat built in 1902 by Charlie Coombs. With just the hull, frames and floor timbers in place it was easy to see that this is a stout boat and very well built.
About 20 feet away from the Pulsifer Hampton, was the Northern Rose, a Torrey Island 29-foot wooden sloop design by the late Joel White of the Brooklin Boat Yard in Brooklin, Maine. The sweet, clean lines of this double-ender cutter were attracting a lot of attention.
Someone had bought the design, started building the boat and died with not much more than the hull completed. Brooklin Boat Yard finished the job and is due to launch it this May.
Way in the back of the building, past a slew of high-end yachts and a few fiberglass workboats, was another boat with its own gathering. That was the 34-foot Merganser, a wooden lobster boat built by Will Frost in 1948 when he was building boats in Portland. When it was built, some considered the Merganser the finest lobster boat hull ever built.
Merganser still retains her lobster boat look but these days she is strictly a recreational boat.
Looking at Merganser or thinking about hoisting the mainsail on the Northern Rose, it was momentarily easy to image a sunny day and running down the Maine coast before a warm summer breeze.
